Resource of the Week | Maths Blog

Resource of the Week: Multiplication in any order

Here we have a maths worksheet, one of a set from urbrainy.com, which looks at a vital part of understanding the process of multiplication: that it can be done in any order. This is also true of addition, but not of subtraction or division.
This page shows that ‘2 lots of 4’ is the same as ‘4 lots of 2’, therefore 4 x 2 is the same as 2 x 4. It does not matter which way the answer is worked out, it will be 8.
This little piece of knowledge helps children with mental arithmetic and with learning tables. Each table which is learnt gives further knowledge of other tables. Eg If you know 5 x 4 = 20 then you can quickly reverse the number sentence to 4 x 5 = 20.

The URBrainy site has a wealth of material for key Stage 1 and is well worth a visit, especially for teachers.

Multiplication in any order (pg 1)

Resource of the week: Writing fractions

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Reading and writing fractions remain a bit of a mystery for many children, but our cunning foxes can help. This worksheet looks at how to read and write fractions from halves to tenths using numbers or words. As well as reading a fraction such as 1/3 as one third, it can also be read as a division sum: 1 divided by 3, or 1 divided into 3 equal parts, but this comes a little later.

These pages can be found in our Year 4 section, under Counting and Numbers.

Writing fractions in words or numbers

Resource of the Week: Number squares for year 2

This wek we are highlighting a Year 2 worksheet on number squares. This is our second in a series for year 2 children where they have to complete the missing numbers in a 100 square. Some of the squares have been removed from the rectangles which, curiously, seems to make this task harder than when working with a complete rectangle. This is good practice for children who are not confident with counting up to 100. Don’t be surprised if children stumble over counting up to 100 out loud. It is something we often take for granted, but of course, has to be learned.

Thanks to URBrainy for letting me use this page. They have thousands of worksheets for Key Stage 1 and you can try it out for nothing here.

Missing numbers on a number (p 2)

Resource of the Week: Year 4 division problems

This page has a range of different ways of asking division questions which children need to be able to recognise and there are a number of methods that can be used to work out the answers mentally.

It is important the tables are known so that the facts can be used. For example if it is known that 6 x 6 = 36, then 6 x 60 can be quickly worked out as 360, and in turn 360 divided by 6 is 60.

Another useful tip is when dividing by 5 mentally it is often possible to divide by 10 and then double the answer.

Please note: Factors need to have taught before trying this page.

Division problems to calculate mentally (pg 2)

Resource of the Week: Year 2 maths worksheet

This is the second page which looks in detail at a 1-100 number square and is excellent practice at understanding place value as well as counting.

A small section of the whole number square, just 4 by 3 is taken and most of the numbers removed. The skill is in replacing the missing numbers.

This can be done in a variety of ways. Probably the easiest way is to work across as each number is one more than the number to the left. One of the more interesting ways is to work down as each number is 10 more than the number above.

Missing numbers on a number square (pg 2)

Many more KS1 resources can be found at urbrainy.com

Resource of the Week: Year 5 fractions and division

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The relationship between fractions and division is one which many children fail to grasp. Put simply, one fifth of 30 is equivalent to 30 divided by 5, or written as a fraction 30 over 5.

It can be a great help to see a fraction as a division calculation. 1/2 can also be thought of as one divided by two.

This page takes a quick look at this and should show whether your child does understand this important relationship.

Relate division and fractions (pg 1)

Resource of the Week: Year 5 division problems

As we get to the end of term here is a page which can be used to check that children can use a range of methods to solve division problems mentally.

It is important the tables are known so that the facts can be used. For example if it is known that 6 x 6 = 36, then 6 x 60 can be quickly worked out as 360, and in turn 360 divided by 6 is 60.

Another useful tip is when dividing by 5 mentally it is often possible to divide by 10 and then double the answer.

Please note: Factors need to have been taught before trying this page.

Division problems to calculate mentally (pg 2)

Resource of the Week: know pairs that make 20

Here we have a straightforward maths worksheet on knowing pairs of numbers that add up to twenty. This is suitable for year 2 children or those who are already very confident with knowing pairs of numbers that make ten.

If these facts are not known there are several ways of working the answers out, including:

1. Counting on from the smaller number.

2. Counting on from the smaller number up to 10 and then adding another 10. (If smaller number is below 10.)

3. Counting back from 20, which is trickier.

A good follow up to this page is to ask how many different ways you can make 20 by adding just two numbers.

If you are looking for resources for Key Stage 1, then urbrainy.com is well worth a visit.

Know pairs that make 20 (pg 2)

Resource of the week: Year 4 pictogram

Graphs are often perceived as a quite easy part of maths, but many children find interpreting them correctly quite tricky. This page looks at the most popular cars seen in a village. Each picture of a car represents 5 cars. Again this page should be seen more as a starter to go and collect data themselves and make their own pictograms. Problems might arise when the data is not in whole fives or tens. This can be solved by showing part of a car eg a wheel could represent one car. This would need to be shown clearly on the pictogram.

This and other handling Data activities can be found in our Year 4 resources.

Pictogram: most popular cars

Resource of the week: Tables square and square numbers

This worksheet has a 10×10 multiplication square which is a brilliant aid to helping with tables, but it is also excellent for showing the pattern of square numbers from 1 to 10.

A square number is made by multiplying a whole number by itself. eg 4 x 4 = 16.

16 is a square number.

It is quite useful to learn the first 10 square numbers off by heart:

1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100.

We will look more closely at square numbers later.

Square numbers (pg 1)